Missing Mentor

Where as Douven gone?

Our adventurers returned to Winterhaven with many questions. Upon returning the tide in the
air had changed. The villagers seemed spooked. The party was cautious with their actions and
words – on the lookout for signs of Kalarel spy that had been revealed to them.
A caravan of merchants had arrived in town. Not much of interest was found, mostly mundane
wares.
Along with the merchants Delphina Moongrem was selling flowers. When asked about goblins in
the area she softly spoke of the great keep to the north. She would often pick flowers from
around the keep but over the last few months she had seen goblins wandering in and out of the
fallen structure. They moved on to speak with the head of the guard.
The warriors guild was visited and the Regulars were training with the townsfolk. Ron Kelfem was approached with the news of the kobold rabbles demise. He was very thankful but
could only refer to Lord Ernest Padraig for fulfilment of the reward.
Padriag was glad to see the adventurers return but soon noticed concern, a sense of urgency.
The reward was paid in full and the adventurers revealed to him their concerns of the cult
activity along with their evidence – the letter found on Irontooth. They spoke of the keep to Padriag. He knew little of its history, only that it was a queer place that was bad luck to
even speak of. After a heated discussion he agreed to hire the party to eliminate this threat
to his people. He could only offer 250 gold and would need a few days to collect such an
amount via taxes.
The party then tracked down Valthrun the Prescient. The group began to reveal to him as well some of their discoveries. He seemed vary alarmed and brought them to his tower. There he
consulted his tombs of history. The group heard the story of the once great keep. Long
before their time a rift in the shadowfell was opened. Undead and demon legions poured from
it ravaging the surrounding landscapes. The might empire of Nerath was eventually able to
fight the forces back and its wizards magically sealed the rift. The keep was built upon the
sealed rift to watch over it. Over the centuries the keep remained guarded but the nature of
it became less and less known to the populous. People of the land no little about it, some
steer clear as they have heard of its cursed happenings and the fall of Sir Keegan a once
great paladin.
The story of Sir Keegan was equally disturbing. He was head of the garrison looking over the
keep. A man of great honor. One day, for no apparent reason he went shit balls crazy and
began killing all around him in the keep. Was he mad? Did he know something the other
didn’t? Eventually he was forced down into the keep where his guards killed him.
After the killing of much of the guard and no true leader to watch the keep was then
abandoned. Decades later a mighty earthquake cracked and fell the once great walls.
Vathrun kept much of this information secret all these years, fearing that he may scare the
populous around him. With some knowledge of Orcus he was terrified and agreed the help the
group in any way he could. He was left with instructions to keep an eye out for the
spy and at request agreed to scribe some rituals that may be useful to the group on their
quest.
The next morning the group picked up their rituals and headed out toward the keep.
Once entering the group was met buy a group of goblins guarding the door. Combat ensued, pit
traps where somehow avoided and eventually the group claimed victory.
The began stumbling through the various barracks and wares rooms that were being used to house
the goblins. Continuing their search they burst in on a hobgoblin and his lackey’s torturing
and ridiculing a wiry goblin prisoner. The prisoner cried out cheering on the adventurers as
bodies hit the floor around them.
Upon his release the goblin begged for his life, offering to help the party. He appeared to
have knowledge of the keep and despite being caught in a lie about the reasons for his capture
the group decided to bring him along. Splug as he identified himself agreed to show the group
to ‘The Fat One’. When asked about the large double doors close buy Splug alerted them that
that is where the card games of the meanies are played but that he knew another way.
Slug lead them down the nearby corridors and suddenly stopped. Placing his small hand in a
crack in the dwarven stone a secret door opened. This startled the adventures having asked
Splug about ‘secret’s only moments ago. Splug narrowed his brow proudly replying ‘This no
secret, Splug know about THIS the WHOLE TIME!’. Amused the group followed him into the
darkness.

Soon light was revealed to them again as another door opened in the pitch black revealing the
sound of snoring. As the group peered in from their hiding spot they could seen a fat goblin
sprawled out in his bed enclosed in a thick tapestry wall to drown out the noise of what lay
beyond.
After some discussion the group agreed to kill him while he sleeps. The Invoker stepped
forth with the wrath of the gods in his eyes and orbs of crackling lightning in his hands.
Unfortunately as he snuck forward to to bring down his will he tripped over a small chest at
the end of the bed awakening the goblin!
With bulging eyes and a cry of fear the fat one jumped out of bad and disappeared beyond the
tapestries. The group followed quickly revealing to them two guards guarding what
looked to be made the personal quarters of Balgron. Fortunately the very door
that Balgron used to keep his rambling minions out lead to his undoing as he was unable to
reach the lock and escape. DPS poored down from the adventures as they could hear goblins
trying to break in after hearing the cries of their leader. They dispatched the other two
guards just as the door was broken down. Goblins could be seen running hear and there, in and
out as they began to take up arms having seen the corpse of their leader just beyond the
battered door!

Our adventurers hail from ward lands of Whitebrick. They had met through Douven Staul’s travels who over his years as an adventurer/collector had peaked their interest in the outside world. Haven taken each under his wing they often met to train together under their common mentor.

Douven had left his home town in persuit of treasure. Being somewhat retired he’s slowed a bit in his age but from time to time his desire for exploration has gotten the better of him. The party found out from Mrs Staul that he had gotten his hands on a map that eluded to a dragon tomb. He had left towards the town of Winterhaven a few weeks travel down the Old Kings Road. None have heard from him since, that was months ago.

Just before reaching town, they where attacked by a band of Kobolds! The Kobolds where startled when Stormborn unleashed the power of his lightning dragonbreath. The rabble had only seen such magic from their powerful Wyrmpriests. The crackling and cries from the whelps alerted a few more heavily armed Kobalds to the front line. Sureley these where no mere merchants.

Just as the Kobold warriors began to engage the party a skulk tried to conceal his attacks from behind the rocky uprooted earth. To his dismay this became the source of his undoing as the spirits within the very stone itself errupted and tore the shamen to peices at the command of the shamen. At the site of their dying kin, a lone kobald tried to flee but was unable to escape!

The party continued on to Winterhaven where they quickly took refuge at Wrafton’s Inn. Over a meal they began to mingle with the locals. They met a local sage who was examining some trinkets he had bought off a traveling merchant. Being of little physical value, merely dice, they exposed Valthrun the Prescients interest in study of the world.

An old farmer name [[Eilian-the-old]] had visited with their mentor, then offering information on the dragon burial site. The adventures asked Ilian to replicate the map he had drawn for Douvenand he was happy to ablige.

The party left the inn after resting with a location on their map and rewards on their mind After telling the locals of the Kobold attack it was suggested to them that they talk to Lord Patriage as the town had been seeing an increase of raids as of late.

At Patraig Estate the party met Lord Ernest Padraig, Lord of Winterhaven. Apparently he had been trying to fight off the Kobold problem for some time. This primarily had been left to Ron Kelfem of the Winterhaven Regulars. Patriage somewhat reluctantly agreed to a bounty if the adventurers could rid Winterhaven of the Kobold problem, but urged them to speak with Ron as not to cause conflict between the Lord and Captain of his Guard.

Upon speaking to Ron at the Warriors Guild the party learned that indeed the Regulars had been having run-ins with the Kobolds. They however had not been able to amass a force strong enough to deal with the problem. Ron, looking for any help he could get, offered a possible location for the Kobolds hideout. The Regulars had been on guarding a grain run from the local fields when they where attacked. They had been unable to follow the attackers south into the woods because of their nubmers. They did however learn of the name ‘Irontooth’ from a whelp pleading for his life. Ron showed them on the map where things went down.

Rested up and with new information the party left town toward the location Ron had given them. As they left town they where again attacked, this time a greater force.
This time the Kobolds lead an offensive with the assistance of one of their dark priests.
The party still prevailed and exposed their true skills acquired since they had last adventured. Just before leaving, while searching the bodies of the fallen they found a strange obsidian necklace on the corpse of a wyrmpreist. It was a carving of a small dragon figurine. On the bottom of the figurine, etched was a symbol of a skull with the horns of a ram. Dread fell over the party as this was recognized as the symbol of Orcus- Demon lord of the undead!